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A player of mine wants to build a character using the Panther Style feat tree (links at the end of this post). His interpretation of the feat tree leads him to think that by the time he has all three feats he could, upon being opportunity attacked by a foe, make a number of unarmed strikes up to his Wisdom modifier in response. This could then be repeated among multiple foes up to a maximum number of attacks per round equal to his Wisdom modifier. While I do think the feat could be interpreted this way based on how the text is read, my interpretation is different. Rather than getting multiple attacks in response to an AOO, the response is always a single unarmed strike and this can be made in response to a number of separate AOOs equal to his Wisdom modifier.

I don't quite know in which direction to lean in this case, as while I do think it's more rational to go with my interpretation (which could very well just be a case of personal bias), I do think his interpretation holds water. At the moment I'm ruling that for every unarmed strike he makes beyond the first one in response to a single AOO, he takes a cumulative -1 penalty on all attacks for that retaliation. At the moment I'm fairly content to leave it at this until I deem it to be a problem for gameplay, but I'm curious to know what the general consensus on the feat tree's wording is.

Panther Style

Panther Claw

Panther Parry

Disclaimer: I know this forum is primarily for DMs of WotR, so I'm asking this as a player (albeit one that's nearing the end of Book 5).

This campaign has had a lot of very disturbing content, particularly sexual assault kind of stuff. We walk through dungeons, and cultists are eating people, raping people, skinning people alive, yadda yadda yadda. Baphomet, the main boss of the whole campaign, has been described primarily as "the Demon Lord of Rape". We go to the Midnight Isles and it's just nothing but obnoxious prostitutes. That was my first time ever plane hopping in the game, player or GM, and it was a huge letdown.

I've asked my DM about the unnaturally high concentration of this content, and he's told me that the campaign was written that way because of how depraved Demons are. I agree that Demons are depraved, but this just seems over the top. Not only is it just uncomfortable to a level that's no longer fun (because being disturbed by the enemies of the game can be kind of fun in a weird way, as well as instill the players with a definite reason to want to kill them beyond the plot), but it also seems like lazy storytelling. If the campaign is nothing but ridiculously disturbing content 24/7, then the party becomes inured to something that should be shocking.

If this was done by Paizo, I'm honestly surprised. In my past experience, they've been pretty good with these sorts of things. They've kept to either doing it subtly or only using it sparingly to effectively create a certain response in the players (*cough cough* Graul Family Homestead *cough*) without crossing the line. That leads me to think that my DM added much of it in, which makes sense because some of the stuff he's added in and told us were his creation are just...just comical in how graphic they are. Like Baphomet giving us a nightmare where he tells us "there is only rape". But then there's also stuff that are straight out of a Saturday Morning Cartoon, like a super powerful Demon conducting a choir of Dretches.

When I tell him of my complaints about these things he just sort of shrugs and tells me he can't do much about it. Are these complaints I should have about the campaign or about him as a DM? I really hope it's not the latter because this is the first campaign he's ever run (which wasn't a good idea if you ask me, since he's running it non-mythic, but that's another piece anyway). I don't want to be this upset with his style because it's obvious he's worked a lot on the campaign. Without spoiling the campaign, what can you tell me?

I was just wondering if anyone had any tips for keeping the general feeling of horror and despair during the combats. Right now we're in Fort Hailcourse (which admittedly isn't too terrifying of a place, except perhaps Clyme's body), and the creepy atmosphere that was going so well during the exploration of Thrushmoor is starting to fall away due to the combat after combat nature of dungeons. Does anyone have any suggestions for keeping things scary while still being able to focus on running the combat and keeping things chugging along at a reasonable pace?

So it seems as though my party has had to retreat from the Tatterman fight instead of finishing it. From here, I'm thinking I could run it one of two ways:

1.) The fog has lifted (it says it does so on Zandalus's defeat, not necessarily the Tatterman's defeat) and Tatterman is now free to wreak havoc on Golarion. He likely targets Thrushmoor first and murders people and/or allies with the Cult of Hastur there. If I really wanted to I could have him be a continuing menace, hopefully culminating with reuniting with the Briarstone Witch in the final chapter (who according to the campaign outline will appear then).

2.) The fog hasn't lifted, and he goes on a killing spree throughout the asylum, until the players head back to kill him.

Problem with the second one: I don't really know how the party would be able to rest, other then just saying that the Shrine of Desna repels the Tatterman.

Problem with the first one: I now need to figure out ways to keep him as a constant presence in the later chapters (or at least in the second chapter). I'd definitely need to upgrade him as well for later encounters.

I'm posting this post to see what suggestions everyone else has. How are my ideas, do you have any other ideas, etc. Thanks!

I'm playing in an evil campaign this summer, and my character is going to be based around the Cthulhu Mythos, Great Old Ones, Elder Gods, that whole shebang. The DM is letting everyone take Deific Obedience as a bonus feat (we're starting at level 12). Does anyone have suggestions for what a good obedience and boons could be for the general Elder Gods pantheon (Azathoth, Yog-Sothoth etc.) would be? If it'd be easier to focus on a specific god, it'd probably be Nyarlathotep.

My question concerns the "Windowless Cell" form of this spell. The spell states that "walls of force" form its sides, and I'm a bit confused as to whether the same restrictions on spells that wall of force has (namely, nothing except teleportation) applies, or if it's different.

Thanks!

The vigilante’s wild attacks allow him to block his foes’ counterattacks. He gains Power Attack as a bonus feat. If he already has the Power Attack feat, he can immediately swap it for another feat for which he qualified at the level he chose Power Attack.

What I'd like to know is if I need to meet the prerequisites for Power Attack to take this talent, or if this (and other talents that grant bonus feats) allow me to ignore the prerequisites.

Thanks!

I've been thinking about remaking Athroxis as a magus, since it seems to just mesh better with her role as an enemy, so I gave it a shot. An argument can be made against it though, seeing as magus ≠ wizard, so it kind of goes against the general theme of Runeforge. Still, I'd like to see what other people think of the rebuild.

Note: I know I didn't list skills, but I figured that her modifiers wouldn't be so important to the point that I'd need to recalculate them. Also, in case the difficulty is called into question, I'd like to point out that I'm DMing a party of 8 that are all very well built characters.

Highlady Athroxis
Female Azlanti human Magus 16
LE Medium humanoid (human)
Init +3; Senses Perception +17

DEFENSE
AC 31, touch 16, flat-footed 25 (+13 armor, +2 deflection, +3 Dex, +1 insight, +2 natural)
hp 191 (16d8+116)
Fort +18, Ref +11, Will +15

OFFENSE
Speed 20 ft., fly 60 ft. (good)
Melee +3 adamantine flaming ranseur +21/+16/+11 (2d4+10/19-20/x3 plus 1d6 fire)
Special Attacks counterstrike, greater spell combat (-2 attack, +2 concentration), spellstrike

Spells Prepared (CL 16th; concentration +19)

6th - chain lightning (DC 23), defending sword
5th - cone of cold (DC 22), dimensional blade, maximized scorching ray, empowered vampiric touch
4th -caustic blood (DC 19), forceful strike, empowered scorching ray (2), shout (DC 21)
3rd - fireball (DC 20), fly, greater magic weapon, haste, keen edge, lightning bolt (DC 20)
2nd - blur, defensive shock, mirror image, scorching ray (3),
1st - burning hands (DC 18), expeditious retreat, magic missile, ray of enfeeblement, shocking grasp, true strike (2)
0(at will)-detect magic, light, flare (DC 17), ray of frost, read magic
Thassilonian Specialization evocation; Opposition Schools abjuration, conjuration

TACTICS
Before Combat Athroxis casts greater magic weapon and keen edge on her ranseur daily, and false life on herself. When she sees the PCs reach K3, she casts fly, blur, defensive shock, and mirror image on herself as well.

During Combat Athroxis casts haste, defending sword, and caustic blood immediately before combat begins, and then uses her cone of cold spells. Before engaging in melee, she spends a point from her arcane pool to increase her weapon’s enhancement bonus by 2, and add a flaming burst enchantment to it as well.

Morale Ahtroxis fights to the death. If reduced to 15 or fewer hit pints, she willingly sacrifices herself, centering a fireball on herself if doing so catches a number of PCs in the blast.

STATISTICS
Str 18, Dex 16, Con 20, Int, 20, Wis 10, Cha 12
Base Atk +12, CMB +17, CMD 34
Feats Arcane Strike, Craft Magic Arms and Armor, Craft Wand, Craft Wondrous Item, Empower Spell, Greater Spell Focus (evocation), Improved Critical (ranseur) Iron Will, Maximize Spell, Spell Focus (evocation), Toughness
SQ arcane pool (13 points, +4), fighter training, heavy armor, knowledge pool, magus arcana (arcane accuracy, concentrate, maximized magic, quickened magic, spell shield)
Combat Gear as listed, but +4 mithral full plate in place of +4 mithral breastplate

Thoughts?

I'll be running this in a few weeks after a few months trying Reign of Winter that ended fairly poorly due to the difficulty of that campaign. I'm already planning to houserule certain feats (using this guide) and to reward making an actual backstory with a toughness feat for individuals and a CLW wand for the whole party if everyone makes one, but I'm curious if there's anything else I should keep in mind. Any suggestions about both difficulty as well as all other topics are very appreciated. Thanks!

I'll be running this in a few weeks after a few months trying Reign of Winter that ended fairly poorly due to the difficulty of that campaign. I'm already planning to houserule certain feats (using this guide) and to reward making an actual backstory with a toughness feat for individuals and a CLW wand for the whole party if everyone makes one, but I'm curious if there's anything else I should keep in mind. Any suggestions about both difficulty as well as all other topics are very appreciated. Thanks!

I'm letting one of my players run a short module for the first time while I prep for a new campaign, and I was wondering what would be a good pick for a beginner DM. Any suggestions?

I have a player who's recently begun utilizing a spell combo of entrapping an enemy in an aqueous orb one round, casting burning disarm on any weapons they're holding the next round (or throw one of his own weapons in if the creature uses natural attacks), and boiling the enemy alive for 10d6 damage a round at level 5.

I've been trying to think through the logistics of this, seeing as the latter two spells state they boil the water "around" the weapon. Realistically speaking, if you dip scalding hot metal into water it creates steam, and then cools down. Counterargument is that there's a magical force keeping it warm, so heat laws won't really apply.

Another problem is the question of how far around the weapon the water boils. If it's just the immediate area there shouldn't be any damage, but even if it's a 5x5x5 foot cube, that's a whole medium sized creature.

My gut is telling me to just say it doesn't work for balance reasons, but I want to give the player some reward for coming up with what I think is a really creative use of spells. Any suggestions?

The stablock for this ability states: "An ancient white dragon can use its breath weapon to create a blizzard in the area around it as a standard action."

What I'm wondering is if the dragon gives up the damage for that breath weapon use to instead create the blizzard (and then have to wait the 1d4 rounds to recharge), if he can use this ability in conjunction with the cone damage, or if it has nothing to do with the normal mechanics for the breath weapon and every part of that is flavor text save for the action type.

Any help?

This is just an idea I came up with a few minutes ago, and I'm curious what people think. Seeing as the PCs are now servants of Baba Yaga (a chaotic evil demigod), and are what's left of 3 of her more powerful servitors, I thought it'd be interesting to have them be hunted by a group of creatures that have no desire to see Baba Yaga return and see the PCs as individuals in cahoots with whatever evil acts Baba Yaga has done and will do (therefore, evil creatures regardless of what alignments they may detect as). Does this seem like much of an idea worth pursuing? If so, any suggestions to augment it? I'm fully aware this probably isn't a very good idea, I'm just curious what people more experienced at this think.

They first TPK'd at the zombies in the carriage, and again at the winter portal. I'm worried that this will keep happening, so I'm debating having them come back in at level 3 and then slowing character advancement later on if I feel it's gotten too easy. They're still fairly new to Pathfinder, having only played a level long homebrew and part 4 of Carrion Crown before, and this seems like a fairly difficult AP.

Should I just keep it all as it is and hope for the best, or should I try my above plan? Because I certainly don't like dealing with TPKs, and they all get disheartened by their happening. Plus, I'd like to try and keep a constant party composition once the Black Rider event occurs.

This is the feat in question.

First off, would I base any save DCs off of INT like all my other Witch hexes? Second off, when it refers to Shaman level should I use my Witch level instead? And finally, when it asks to base something off of CHA considering that's what most Shaman hexes are built around, should I keep it as such or change it to INT instead to keep it in line with Witch hexes?

Thanks!